SUBSTITUTES Sydney Swans: Trent Dennis-Lane replaced by Kieren Jack in the third quarter Richmond: David Astbury replaced by Tom Hislop in the first quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Ryan, Armstrong, McInerney

Official crowd: 23,782 at the SCG

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THE SYDNEY Swans have overcome a persistent Richmond outfit in wet and blustery conditions to claim a 10-point win in a hard-fought battle at the SCG on Sunday afternoon.

Tigers midfielder Dustin Martin's clever goal, a banana under pressure from 40m out, within a minute of the restart in the last quarter drew his team level. A behind shortly after put them in front.

The Swans then kicked three goals in three minutes - through Ryan O'Keefe, Josh Kennedy and Sam Reid - to take what was a match-winning three-goal lead.

Swans wingman Leroy Jetta kicked another goal with eight minutes remaining to take the lead out to four goals.

Richmond ruckman Andrew Browne, who had lowered his colours to opposing ruckman Mark Seaby, hit back with a goal, as did Tyrone Vickery to give Richmond a sniff with five minutes remaining.

The Swans, however, steadied as rain pelted down to win 9.21 (75) to 9.11 (65).

Conditions were slippery and the wind was swirling before the rain hit in the last quarter.

The player who will set tongues wagging was 19-year-old forward Reid, one of two teenagers in the Swans team; the other was tall defender Alex Johnson.

In one spell in the second quarter Reid took two contested marks against Richmond veteran Brad Miller. Such was the quality of the marks that you could sense a shiver of panic in the Richmond camp.

When the ball was next delivered into the Swans' forward line, Tigers defender Alex Rance tripped over himself in his haste to spoil Reid and pushed him in the back. Reid, the brother of Collingwood's Ben, kicked another behind from the free kick.

Reid let himself down with his kicking at goal. His tally at half-time was 1.5. He kicked his second goal after receiving a handball in the goalsquare during the three goals in three minutes splurge.

Richmond was set back before the opening bounce when key defender Luke McGuane was forced out of the selected team, replaced by Jake Batchelor.

The Tigers' tall defender stocks suffered another blow when David Astbury dislocated his knee in the opening minutes of the match.

Miller was then forced to play in defence. The stretched Richmond backline struggled to keep out the Swans' key forwards, Reid and Adam Goodes, who had five marks inside 50 to the Tigers' one halfway through the third quarter.

The Swans were goalless in the third quarter, scoring 0.5 to Richmond's 2.0, but deserved their victory.

Quarter by quarter summary

FIRST QUARTER The day started badly for Richmond with the late withdrawal of key defender Luke McGuane and it only got worse three minutes into the first quarter when David Astbury was stretchered off with a serious knee injury. The club was made to use their substitute Tom Hislop almost immediately. To make matters worse, Trent Dennis-Lane kicked the first goal of the game shortly after Astbury left the field and the Swans had the momentum. Mark Seaby started to exert his influence all over the ground as the Swans found plenty of room in their forward 50 but couldn't convert on the scoreboard. The Tigers steadied with a goal to Jack Riewoldt midway through the term but the Swans hit back almost instantly. Both teams traded goals through Malceski and Nahas respectively before the Swans started to get on top of the contest. The Swans had 11 scoring shots for the term but couldn't convert despite having a number of set shots on goal. Lewis Roberts-Thomson showed his team how it's done for a second week in a row to kick the Swans out to an 11-point lead at the first change.

SECOND QUARTER The Tigers needed a quick goal to start the term and Dustin Martin did exactly that within the first four minutes. Sam Reid had the chance to hit back straight away, but sprayed his third set shot on goal, before kicking truly moments later for his first. The Swans were made to pay for their goalkicking woes as Brett Deledio snapped to make the margin four points at the 17-minute mark. Reid started to dominate but once again couldn't convert his chances and finished the term with 1.5 to his name. Lewis Jetta finally gave the Swans the much-deserved lead with an easy goal late in the quarter. Surprisingly only 13 points separated the sides at the main break despite the Swans having eight more scoring shots.

THIRD QUARTER The Swans came out in the third quarter desperate to put pressure on the scoreboard but again struggled to convert in the windy and wet conditions with Ben McGlynn missing from 30m out in the opening minute. The Tigers again made the Swans pay for their error as Tyrone Vickery kicked his first to make the margin just eight points early in the quarter. A spectacular mark and goal to Riewoldt reduced the margin to five points, despite the Tigers kicking six goals to the Swans' five. Richmond held the Swans to their fourth goalless quarter for the year and had the momentum heading into the final quarter trailing by only six points.

FOURTH QUARTER For the second time Martin kicked the first goal of the term for the Tigers to bring the scores level. With the momentum swinging towards his team, Martin had an opportunity to really hurt the Swans moments later but pulled his kick to give the Tigers a one-point lead for the first time since the opening minute of the match. A touch of Kieren Jack magic was the spark the Swans needed as he broke through a tackle to set up O'Keefe for his first goal. What followed were two goals in as many minutes to Josh Kennedy and then Reid as the momentum moved back in the Swans' favour. Lewis Jetta later kicked a goal to put the game almost out of reach for the Tigers halfway through the term. A late surge saw the Tigers get to within two goals before the Swans steadied for a hard-fought 10-point victory.

Woefully inaccurate goal kicking didn't stop Sydney from reclaiming fifth spot on the AFL ladder today, as the Swans overcame the yips and a determined Richmond fightback for a 10-point victory at the SCG.

Sydney had kicked 4.14 with one minute spare in the second term before a late goal from Lewis Jetta gave them a 13-point lead at half-time.

In dark, blustery and wet conditions, the Tigers hit the front early in the final quarter before the Swans booted three goals in four minutes to win 9.21 (75) to 9.11 (65).

Sydney had missed nine set shots by half-time and co-captain Adam Goodes continued the wasteful trend in the third quarter in registering his fourth behind.

The Tigers kicked the only two goals of the third term and threatened to pinch the game, Jack Riewoldt pulling in a spectacular leaping mark over Ted Richards in the goalsquare.

The visitors hit the lead when Dustin Martin kicked a goal and a behind in the space of a minute but, as has often been the case with Sydney this season, frenetic pressure arrested momentum.

Led by Kieren Jack, who played as the substitute in his return from an ankle injury and entered the fray late in the third quarter, the Swans snaffled three quick goals and registered three consecutive wins for the first time this season.

The turning point came from Jetta, who set up the second of those goals when he knocked the ball on to Josh Kennedy after Tigers Bachar Houli and Matt White elected not to rush the behind.

Youngster Sam Reid then goaled from point-blank range after missing six set shots.

Goals from Andrew Browne and Tyrone Vickery put the visitors again within 10 points, but Sydney held firm in heavy rain.

Reid (2.5) and Goodes (0.4) were the home side’s most inaccurate.

On a day when space and free-flowing football was at a premium, the silky skills of Martin (24 possessions) and Brett Deledio (27 possessions) stood out.

Sydney ruckman Mark Seaby had his best game for the season, with 21 disposals, 36 hit outs and eight clearances.

Richmond suffered a major blow after just four minutes when a knee injury saw young utility David Astbury taken from the ground on a stretcher.

SYDNEY spent much of yesterday's game against Richmond at the SCG contriving to hand the Tigers a shock victory.

Words cannot describe the ineptitude of the Swans' conversion, but the numbers do a reasonable job. At quarter-time it was 3.8, at half-time 5.14, then 5.19 at the last change, and ultimately 9.21.

Sam Reid had a whale of a game across half-forward but could not have hit a barn door with a handful of sand. He kicked 2.5 for the game, his only two majors coming from point-blank range. Time after time he pulled down contested marks but missed set shots from inside 40 metres.

Adam Goodes was only marginally better. Manned by Alex Rance, Goodes finished with 0.4 for the game, all from makeable shots.

It was a profligacy that Richmond appeared willing to accept as the rain tumbled down and the last quarter began. The Tigers have grown, and here they stepped up to the monolith that is Sydney on the SCG in the mud. Of course it was Dustin Martin, the man-child who won the ball 24 times, who banana-kicked the first goal to tie the scores, then missed on the run to give Richmond the lead.

Down on the boundary, Damien Hardwick was convinced his team could mow down Sydney. His players thought so, too. ''We hit the front there, and we've got a lot of belief in our fitness,'' said midfielder Shaun Grigg afterward. ''Matty Hornsby [club conditioning man] has done a great job over the pre-season and kept us fresh as well. We thought when we hit the front we were a chance.''

But Sydney had been the dominant side all day, and it had too much to lose. In three minutes of burst football, the Swans swept the ball forward and converted with consecutive goals to virtually finish it. Ryan O'Keefe's long shot on the run, after the returning Kieren Jack forced the ball free, was the highlight. Josh Kennedy soccered another after Richmond defenders Matt White and Bachar Houli declined an opportunity to rush a behind. Then Brad Miller conceded a free kick in a marking contest and Reid roosted the game-winner.

The final phase of the game was significant, though, for it belonged to Richmond. Sydney was spent, having laid 90 tackles and eclipsed the Tigers in the massive contested ball count (155-134). The Swans merely tried to hang on, and Rance ran down and buried Goodes in a tackle. Richmond kicked the last two goals so that when Mitch Farmer and Trent Cotchin missed shots in the last few minutes, a goal would have brought the game back to life.

''They're a quality team and you can't ease up for even one minute,'' said Grigg. ''They piled on some goals and when it rained, they were able to hang on. They're a hardened team, big bodies and mature.''

Sydney won through the stoppage supremacy of Kennedy and O'Keefe, through the defence of Heath Grundy (on Ty Vickery) and Ted Richards, who kept Jack Riewoldt to two goals, and through Mark Seaby's best game for the club in the ruck. It also won despite below-par efforts from Goodes and Jude Bolton, its two best players this year.

But the Swans did enough, ultimately, to move on to a big test against Carlton next weekend. ''It doesn't mean anything unless we can make something of it in the next couple of weeks,'' said coach John Longmire.

BAD BREAK

Richmond had let David Astbury have a run in the VFL before swinging him back into the team for yesterday's game, and on his return, he lasted all of four minutes. Astbury went down in a heavy tackle from Ben McGlynn, dislocated the kneecap in his left leg, and was carried off. His season is most likely over.

JUST FOR KICKS

Sydney's amazing inaccuracy kept the game interesting. The Swans kicked 5.14 to half-time, with Ben Reid and Adam Goodes the culprits, and finished with 9.21 for the game. Although the game finished in driving rain, there was no excuse for the earlier misses, mostly from set shots.